Passive House Building Science

What is a Passive House?

Passive House (PH) is a European concept and performance based building standard that focuses on dramatically reducing or eliminating the need for an active heating or cooling system to maintain a comfortable interior climate. This is achieved through efficient design that utilizes passive heating and cooling techniques, airtight construction, super insulation, super energy efficient windows and a heat recovery ventilation system (HRV) to achieve the rigorous Passive House Standard. The annual energy use cannot exceed 120 kWh(m2a). To put that into perspective, this is approximately 10% of the energy required to heat and cool any conventionally built home in Canada.

Passive House construction is not just about energy efficiency. Passive Homes boast comfortable, consistent temperatures year-round, exceptional noise control, longevity and health benefits for those with allergies and asthma, – because of the constant introduction and cycling of fresh filtered air.

The efficiencies realized by construction to this standard make a Passive House a great starting point for achieving Net Zero, Leed, the Living Building Challenge and other CO2 initiatives.